This Day in 1912 in The Record: Sept. 7, 1912

Saturday, Sept. 7, 1912. A Lansingburgh man is dead after accepting an old enemy's challenge to a fistfight that quickly turned lethal tonight, The Record reports.

William Kirwin dies en route to Leonard Hospital after suffering two stab wounds, apparently at the hands of another Lansingburgh man, Thomas Daley. Taken into custody shortly afterward, Daley denies responsibility for Kirwin's death.

Investigators are relying on the eyewitness accounts of James Carroll and Thomas McCarthy. It's unclear from our paper's early report whether they are friends of Kirwin or Daley, or mere bystanders to their fight on Twentieth Street.

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At least one of the witnesses must have been present when Daley walked into Delaney's Saloon, located at the former Malt House No. 4, and challenged Kirwin "to come forth and take a beating." Daley "had trouble with Kirwin several months before," according to people who know the men.

"Kirwin accepted the defi [i.e. challenge] and the men proceeded down the alley to a spot a short distance from the saloon, where they removed hats and coats....Kirwin, it is said, was having the better of the struggle, a particularly hard swing raising a lump over Daley's right eye.

"Finding that he was getting the worst of the trouble he had sought, Daley, the authorities believe, drew his pocket knife, which possessed a keen edge, and made a vicious stab at Kirwin. The first blow was effective, a gash nearly three inches long and which severed an artery being inflicted. Kirwin reeled and fell to the ground, and either Carroll or McCarthy, the stories differing on this point, seized Daley and took the knife from him."

The two witnesses apparently "failed to realize the serious nature of Kirwin's wound" and let Daley leave the scene. With or without the witnesses' encouragement, "the rapidly dying man with difficulty regained his feet and managed to make his way back to the saloon." Inside, he loses consciousness and collapses. At that point, everyone notices the trail of blood extending back to the scene of the fight.

Calling the hospital isn't the first option in 1912. "Attempts to secure the services of a physician were without result for several minutes," our writer explains, "Drs. G. B. Sprague and B. L. Shaw, who have offices near the scene, were at their country residences." Concerned bar patrons finally find Dr. James H. Flynn, who "at once saw that Kirwin's condition was about hopeless."

Flynn tells everyone that Kirwin's only chance is at the hospital, but the ambulance doesn't arrive on time. Along with Daley, Carroll and McCarthy have been arrested as material witnesses to the crime.